Preface
Food quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. Thisincludes external factors as appearance (size, shape, colour, gloss, and consistency),
texture, and flavour; factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs) and internal
(chemical, physical, microbial).
Food quality is an important food manufacturing requirement, because food
consumers are susceptible to any form of contamination that may occur during the
manufacturing process. Many consumers also rely on manufacturing and processing
standards, particularly to know what ingredients are present, due to dietary,
nutritional requirements, or medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, or allergies). Food
quality also deals with product traceability, e.g. of ingredient and packaging suppliers,
should a recall of the product be required. It also deals with labeling issues to ensure
there is correct ingredient and nutritional information.
Besides ingredient quality, there are also sanitation requirements. It is important to
ensure that the food processing environment is as clean as possible in order to produce
the safest possible food for the consumer. Foodborne diseases due to microbial
pathogens, biotoxins, and chemical contaminants in food represent serious threats to
the health of thousands of millions of people. Serious outbreaks of foodborne disease
have been documented on every continent in the past decades, illustrating both the
public health and social significance of these diseases. A recent example of poor
sanitation has been the 2006 North American E. coli outbreak involving spinach, an
outbreak that is still under investigation after new information has come to light
regarding the involvement of Cambodian nationals. Foodborne diseases not only
significantly affect people's health and well-being, but they also have economic
consequences for individuals, families, communities, businesses and countries. These
diseases impose a substantial burden on healthcare systems and markedly reduce
economic productivity. Poor people tend to live from day to day, and loss of income
due to foodborne illness perpetuates the cycle of poverty.
Effective national food control systems are essential to protect the health and safety of
domestic consumers. Governments all over the world are intensifying efforts to
improve food safety in response to an increasing number of problems and growing
consumer concerns in regards to various food risks. Responsibility for food control in
Contents
Preface IXSection 1 Molecular Approaches to Achieve the Food Quality 1
Chapter 1 Strategies for Iron Biofortification of Crop Plants 3
Mara Schuler and Petra Bauer
Chapter 2 Monitoring Harmful Microalgae
by Using a Molecular Biological Technique 15
Tomotaka Shiraishi, Ryoma Kamikawa,
Yoshihiko Sako and Ichiro Imai
Chapter 3 Species Identification
of Food Spoilage and Pathogenic Bacteria
by MALDI-TOF Mass Fingerprinting 29
Karola Böhme, Inmaculada C. Fernández-No,
Jorge Barros-Velázquez, Jose M. Gallardo,
Benito Cañas and Pilar Calo-Mata
Chapter 4 Raman Spectroscopy: A Non-Destructive
and On-Site Tool for Control of Food Quality? 47
S. Hassing, K.D. Jernshøj and L.S. Christensen
Chapter 5 Contamination of Foods by Migration
of Some Elements from Plastics Packaging 73
O. Al-Dayel, O. Al-Horayess, J. Hefni,
A. Al-Durahim and T. Alajyan
Section 2 Some Case Studies Improving the Food Quality 81
Chapter 6 Senescence of the Lentinula edodes
Fruiting Body After Harvesting 83
Yuichi Sakamoto, Keiko Nakade,
Naotake Konno and Toshitsugu Sato